Archive for the ‘Skinnergate Lifehouse’ Category

Well we survived our party! A great time was had and a full report will follow later. But we wanted to share some pictures of the evening with you. There’s a couple here and the rest can be accessed by clicking this link.

Thanks again to all who came – customer, social welfare partners, friends etc. Thanks to our guest speakers – John Swinney MSP (Cabinet Sec for Finance & Sustainable Growth); Councillor Alan Grant (Environment Convener for Perth & Kinross Council); Lt Cols Alan and Alison Burns (Salvation Army East Scotland Regional Leaders). And thanks to all who offer support to this project in whatever way that may be.

Following on from being named “UK Furniture ReUse Organisation of the year 2009” by the UK Furniture ReUse Network, Perth Salvation Army’s “4020” Furniture Re-Use Project has now received further recognition from The Salvation Army’s UK Territory.

At its annual Social Services Awards ceremony held at the Hayes Conference Centre, Derbyshire, the stars of Salvation Army social services work, who go the extra mile to help homeless and older people, were given the spotlight by the church and charity organisation.

Normally unsung champions in homelessness services and older people’s services received awards from The Salvation Army’s Territorial Commander Commissioner John Matear, in a ceremony at the church and charity’s annual social services conference, compered by Lieut-Colonel Ian Barr (Secretary for programme) and Major Ray Irving (Director of social services).

Winners from across the UK and Ireland were cheered on by an audience of over 300 social service directors, centre managers, project workers, and service users.

Lieut-Colonel Ian Barr said: “This evening is about rewarding excellence and innovation in centres and to thank staff for the gifts, skills and generosity of spirit and faith they bring to working with people during difficult times.”

The flagship Perth “4020” Furniture ReUse Project scooped the top award in the Work and Social Enterprise Category, improving on its runner up status the previous year. Project Manager, Daniel Rous, said “the recognition from the Furniture Re-Use Network was great, and celebrated the practical work we undertake. This award from The Salvation Army celebrates why we do it. We are not just about stopping furniture from going to landfill, but about helping people have a better quality of life by having decent furnishings around them. Furniture is only half the story of our work.”

Judged by an independent panel of experts in the older people and homeless sector, 97 Salvation Army homeless services (that include 83 LifeHouses), 17 care homes and three day care centres for older people, and more than 1,000 staff in the UK and Republic of Ireland were eligible for nomination by Salvation Army employees, service users, and by independent local community groups in 16 award categories.

Award announced and the award goes to THE SALVATION ARMY 40:20 FURNITURE RE-USE PROJECT (Perth)

The Furniture Reuse Network of furniture charities that collect unwanted furniture to pass on to those in need announced the winner of the third President’s Award for the most outstanding charity in the network at their Annual Conference held in Cheshire this weekend .

The Salvation Army’s 40:20 Furniture Project in Perth, Scotland, received the award in recognition of their amazing work to pass on essential furniture to those living without the bare home essentials plus the valuable support they give to homeless and unemployed people who volunteer at the project. The FRN President Richard Featherstone commented:

“The Salvation Army’s furniture project in Perth is a shining example of the original values of the FRN; a local community initiative which values its people as well as the furniture reuse work to alleviate poverty”. The team of staff and volunteers led by Daniel Rous have worked amazingly hard in 2009 to help as many people as possible and put the furniture project on a firm footing.

The 40:20 Furniture Project was picked out of a short list of six furniture reuse projects nominated for the Award, Richard added “all have done outstanding work in the year and could all deserve the acclaim, however we had to pick one, it was a difficult choice.”

The Award will give the Perth team a boost to know that they have the accolade of their fellow members in the FRN and that this recognition will raise their profile locally to bring in more furniture, volunteers and help to secure funding.

Project Manager, Daniel Rous, in response to the news of receiving this award commented “we are over the moon to receive this national recognition of the work we are trying to achieve here. Whilst we continued to grow throughout 2009, it was also a tough year in many ways. This award goes a long way to lifting the moral of the staff who give so much of themselves to help others in the Perthshire community.”

The FRN is a UK networking charity representing approximately 400 reuse organisations. nominations were put forward by FRN staff and key people in the sector acting as scouts; The team of judges comprised the President and two previous winners of the Award.“ All nominations are high achieving projects who had made a big difference to the communities they serve” they added..

Judges focussed their decision this year on the project that balanced the social benefits of reuse with the environmental advantages.

As part of commitment to providing as wide a service as possible to the Perthshire community, we are pleased to offer a number of additional services.

So, not only will we collect all useable furniture and electrical items for free, and sell those items on at very low prices, but now we can offer Portable Appliance Testing and Basic Manual Handling Training.

More additional services are planned so watch this space for more details! For now, head over to our extra services page to find out more.

In March 2009. The Salvation Army held their inaugural Hostel Plus Awards, designed to recognise work being undertaken in Salvation Army Resettlement Units across the UK to enable residents get moved on in their lives. Various categories were taken into account and many excellent initiatives were celebrated. As part of it, this Furniture Project, part of the Skinnergate Resettlement Unit, was Highly Commended in the Work and Social Enterprise category.

You can read the full report on the awards ceremony from The UK Salvation Army website by clicking here.

We would like to thank all our customers for their support, that has enabled this project to be the success that it is and bring much needed change for our staff, volunteers, and the people we strive to help

We are very grateful to have taken receipt of a financial donation from the Perth Model Lodging House Association (PMLHA), part of which has been spent on purchasing a brand new bench saw. This saw will become a valuable resource as our workshop area develops further (more news on that soon!). Members of the Association visited the project to officially present their donation in front of local press.